Facebook pages with large US audience will now need to perform additional authentication to function

Facebook pages with large US audience will now need to perform additional authentication to function

Facebook believes Page publishing authorization process will make it harder to administer a Facebook page using a fake or compromised account.

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India Today Tech

New Delhi

August 11, 2018

UPDATED: August 11, 2018 17:49 IST

Facebook, on Friday, announced that pages will now need to prove who they are. The social networking site has introduced Page publishing authorization process for a Facebook page with a large audience in the US. This measure comes almost around a week after Facebook said that they have discovered new coordinated political influence campaign on the platform ahead of November's US congressional elections -- similar to what happened during 2016 Presidential election -- to misguide users. The social media giant believes that the newly introduced Page publishing authorization process will make it harder to administer a Facebook page using a fake or compromised account. Well, whether the measure will be effective or not this only time will say.

"In April, we announced plans to help ensure these connections are authentic and more transparent. Today we're introducing Page publishing authorization starting with people that manage a Page with a large audience in the US. We're also adding primary country location and Page merge details to the Page Info tab we introduced in June," notes Facebook in a blog post while announcing the additional authorization process for pages.

After Facebook found out about the new coordinated political influence campaign ahead of November's U.S. congressional elections, the social media platform reportedly removed around 32 pages and accounts from its platforms - both Facebook and Instagram. By taking these measures Facebook is making sure to not repeat the same mistake as happened during Donald Trump's 2016 election.

The new Page publishing authorization process will need page administrators to secure their page by performing a two-factor authentication. Following which the admins will need to confirm their primary home location. Now, people who manage these Pages will be asked to complete an authorization process in order to continue to post, making it harder for people to administer a Page using a fake or compromised account," Facebook notes.

"If a Page manager requires authorization, they'll receive a notice at the top of their News Feed to begin the process. This should only take a few minutes to complete," Facebook further says explaining the process. It is important to note that page that doesn't complete the process will not be able to post anything on their page. Enforcement will follow shortly this month," notes Facebook.

In addition, Facebook will also show more details in the Info and Ads section of Pages. People will be able to see when a Page has merged with another Page under Page History. Furthermore, Facebook is also adding a section called People Who Manage This Page.

The social media giant has also confirmed that it will introduce similar features on Instagram too in the coming weeks.

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